PERRYSVILLE — Ashland County commissioners loaned the Village of Perrysville more than $350,000 recently to complete the reconstruction of a driveway that leads into a children’s toy manufacturer.
Perrysville owns the driveway that leads into Step2. It is therefore the village’s responsibility to maintain it, said Perrysville Mayor Steve Goines.
“It’s in terrible shape,” he said, adding the company approached the village earlier this year to fix it.
Goines said the village didn’t “have that kind of money,” so officials began looking elsewhere for solutions.
That’s when Ashland County commissioners, JobsOhio and the Ohio Department of Transportation got involved.
The project, by the numbers
Here’s how the financing for the project breaks down.
| Commitments | Dollar amount |
| Perrysville | $59,106 |
| Step2 | $59,106 |
| JobsOhio | $236,426 |
| Ohio Department of Transportation | $118,213 |
Overall, the project figures to cost $472,852, according to an estimate provided by the project’s contractor, Ashland-based Sloan Concrete.
The county’s loan, totaling $354,639, represents the amount between commitments from JobsOhio and ODOT.
Once the project is completed, the village will repay the loan amount, Welch said.
The commissioner said he doesn’t remember the board ever doing this for another local entity.
“It’s difficult for a small village like that to have those sort of funds. Very difficult,” Welch said. “And it’s even probably more difficult to take a loan out. I’m not sure how they’d pay it back without basically having commitments from JobsOhio and ODOT.
“I think it’s a form of economic development. Our board’s very committed to keeping jobs in our area.”
The loan doesn’t carry interest, according to the document outlining the deal, and it must be paid back in full by Jan. 31, 2026.
“We have guarantees, letters of commitment from everyone — there’s no risk to it,” Welch said.
Ashland County commissioners, in September, also authorized the release of $50,000 in permissive tax funds for the project.
JobsOhio’s announcement of its commitment of $236,426 said the project would create 22 jobs and retain 193. Goines, however, said that is not necessarily the case.
“(The project) might not necessarily provide jobs here in Perrysville. Some will (be provided), but not all,” he said.